WARSAW, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Thanks to the technical solutions implemented, by the end of this week no more waste will flow into the Vistula river, a spokesman for the Polish prime minister's office said on Monday.
In late August, authorities started releasing untreated sewage in a controlled manner into the Vistula river following a malfunction at a sewage treatment plant in the northeastern part of Warsaw, which aroused public concern about the quality of the river.
Around 2 million cubic meters of sewage are estimated to have been dumped so far into the river, which crosses Poland to reach the Baltic Sea in the north. While drinking water in Warsaw was not affected, municipalities further north on the river route regularly monitored water quality and warnings have been issued not to bathe or use river water.
The Polish government intervened to help build a pontoon bridge on the left bank of the Vistula river to support a temporary sewage collector meant to transport waste to the Czajka treatment plant, whose own collectors had been affected by the malfunction.
The installation was located north of the Maria Sklodowska-Curie bridge in the north of Warsaw and was entirely financed from the state budget. Hundreds of people were involved in preparing the technical solution, the Polish government said.
On Monday, the government spokesman said that the temporary installation was performing at 60 percent capacity and that by the end of the week it should be 100 percent effective, once some technical adjustments are implemented.
